Letter from the Editors
words by Jasmine Wang & Wendy Gao, art by Jenna Clare Trinidad
Dearest reader,
In our summer issue, you returned with us to the shores of our homelands, memories colored by sadness and nostalgia, heartbreak and hope. In this first issue of our second volume, Navigation, we’ve strapped on rucksacks heavy with the contradictions of desires and disillusionment, turning our faces toward the sun to set off to futures and destinations unknown.
Mia Tan reaches for our hands and takes the first step of our odyssey with her fictional piece “The Carried” about the theatrical performance between mothers and daughters. Bhavyasri Suggula also plays with theater and film in her soliloquy “lady bird.” Her Greta Gerwig inspired coming of age monologue grapples with the guilt and excitement of leaving home and family. Wendy Gao’s “inhale / exhale me home” also ruminates on the comforts of home, manipulating the embodiment of breath and asking how heritage migrates through the body like oxygen.
Cayla Celis’ archival log “when the smoke clears” peeks into her own brain, brushing away the fog to reveal a cacophony of scattered thoughts and desires. Gordon Shi’s poem “Bus Stop Between Worlds” also bounces from thought to thought, place to place, embarking on an adventurous exploration of liminal spaces following familial loss. Sofia Heartney also navigates familial loss in her poem “As a butterfly,” which is dedicated to her late lola.
Evelyn Pak too dips her toe in mourning with her fictional story “The Girl and the Sea,” where the protagonist sets sail on an ocean of grief, in hopes of a final reunion with her recently passed loved one. Melanie Chuh also faces the tide of adulthood and plunges headfirst in her coming of age poem “lake chesapeake,” wondering if we’re all just paddling towards an elusive shore.
While Evelyn and Melanie ask us to look across the sea, Vaidehi Bhardwaj begs us to tilt our chins to the sky and look up at vast galaxies in her poem “as the sky whirls above us, i try to catch orion in my palms.” Vision blurs and time slows as we gaze for hours at these mesmerizing constellations. Time well-spent. Time wasted. Time constructed. Sarayu Kurra asks questions about the construction and relativity of time in her piece, “Time Sense.”
Aliza Susatijo’s piece “Estimated Time of Arrival” also loses itself in time and thought as she contemplates her true destination while trapped in a car on a road trip. Finally, Adrian Alora’s piece “A Fourth Year Invoice” draws a parallel breakdown between him and his car throughout his fourth year.
With broken compasses and puzzling maps in hand, guided only by anticipation and aspiration, our writers are slowly, relentlessly steering us toward new beginnings. We are bubbling with excitement for this issue and to welcome our talented new authors and artists. Their imaginative artistry pulls us along, leading us to undiscovered coasts—our North star in this velvet darkness.
As you read, please also give our issue playlist a listen. It is filled with all the songs that inspired our authors and artists as they worked hard to gift you such a beautiful issue. And as always, thank you endlessly for your readership and for fueling our community of storytellers. We hope you take our hands and run, sprint, fly with us towards that faraway sun that whispers honeyed promises of intoxicating escapades and exhilarating destinies.
With all our love,
Jasmine & Wendy <3
